Hold this Boy and Listen
by Objective Mistress
Summary: For the woman who can control and bend all four elements to her will, getting a newborn infant to sleep is an exercise that is more difficult than she ever imagined. [Be the Peaf Prompt #53 – Control]


**Title:** Hold this Boy and Listen

**Rating:** K

**Word Count:** ~800

**Summary: **For the woman who can control and bend all four elements to her will, getting a newborn infant to sleep is an exercise that is more difficult than she ever imagined. [Be the Peaf Prompt #53 – Control]

**Author Note:** As a musician, I think it's fun to have some pieces inspired by pieces. This prompt is based off _Hold this Boy and Listen_ by Carter Pann for concert band. While reading alone is wonderful, I encourage you to listen to the piece while reading. Here is a link of one of my ensembles presenting this lovely work. Enjoy if you choose!

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Korra's eyes snapped open as soon as the piercing cries of the waking infant pierced the air.

"Is it my turn?" Mako mumbled, his voice still thick with sleep.

"No it's mine," she rolled to her side.

Mechanically, she forced herself upright and swung her feet off the bed. Her feet dropped to the wooden floor softly. She waivered slightly as she pulled herself upright and on to her feet. Step by step, she headed to the nursery next door. She kept a hand on the wall for support as she went. Her mind was blank except for the instinctual need to help her baby.

"Shhh," she cooed. "Mommy is here."

She scooped the infant into her arms and supported his head in her cradling embrace. He was so fragile, so small. Here was a being that was utterly dependent on her for his wellbeing and survival. That thought alone was overwhelming.

As a first-time mother, she couldn't help but feel a bit afraid. Without the support of her own mother and Pema, she would have no idea what to do. Weren't her "motherly instincts" supposed to kick in? Wasn't there a seed somewhere within her that knew what to do with the crying infant in her arms? There should be some great mothering power that she could control.

Korra rocked and bounced the boy up and down in her arms and turned them to the small mirror on the wall. "Please stop crying…"

The sleepless nights had taken their toll. There were bags under her eyes from the constant waking. Her mind felt more exhausted and hazy than in the aftermath of her toughest training. Her body craved more than the two-hours-at-a-time sleep she was getting, but that was something she didn't have control of.

"You two okay in here?" Mako stumbled in, still rubbing his eyes in a vain attempt to be more alert.

"I-I can't get him to stop I tried everything and I don't think he's hungry and we just cleaned his diaper a few hours ago…" she rambled, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She wasn't used to having so little agency to change the current situation

He smiled wearily, rubbing a soothing hand over his wife's shoulders. "It's probably just colic like the healers warned us about."

Colic meant she couldn't do anything. It meant nothing she did would help her child calm down and sleep. It meant she had no control. As it turns out, learning and mastering the four elements, (even airbending, which proved troublesome), was easier than getting their baby to sleep. Korra was now convinced that babies were a force of nature to be reckoned with. A fifth element she had to learn to abide by.

"We just have to wait it out. Let me take him for a bit," he held out his arms.

"Support his head…" she transferred their son over carefully.

"I got it," he took the fussing infant into his arms. "You know, even when he's like this…he's beautiful."

Korra smiled fondly. The miracles of having a child of her and her husband's flesh and blood still astounded her. It was a wonder beyond the scope of anything she had yet done. But these thoughts were cut short when the baby's wailing intensified.

"Shhh, daddy is here," Mako rocked their child back and forth gently in his arms. "Spirits he won't stop. When did the healer say colic would end?"

"Whenever he feels like it," she let a small sardonic laugh escape from her lips.

"It's going to be a long month or two, isn't it?"

"No kidding."

Suddenly, silence washed over them. Korra had to be sure she was awake and not in the midst of a pleasant dream. It was as if a switch had been flipped.

"He stopped," she whispered, not wanting to provoke another round of crying.

Mako lowered the baby slowly into the crib. "Quick, lets catch an hour of sleep before he wakes up again."

The new parents tiptoed back into the night, not knowing when they would be needed again.


End file.
